Ogre [Al-Qadim]

Here ogres hold an honored place in civilized life, though still huge, ugly by human taste and sometimes greedy. An adult may reach ten feet in height and 300 to 350 pounds in weight. Skin tends to yellow, and a violet tinge suggests an ogre mage ancestor. Purple eyes with white pupils, usually orange teeth and claws, and well-groomed, often braided hair of blue-black to dark green complete the look; the sour-milk smell is faint and masked by perfume. Most speak the common trade tongue of the desert lands, and many know an ancestral ogre language far richer than their foreign cousins' childish speech. They view foreign ogres as savages, rightly. Most live 90 years, a few past 100.

Even pampered ones are very strong: Strength comes from a 1d10 table (percentile for exceptional scores), with normal bonuses. Their size lets them swing big weapons like the great scimitar in one hand without penalty, and larger ones two-handed. Damage follows weapon and Strength; unarmed blows deal 1d10 plus Strength bonus. Not brilliant tacticians, they can still fight as an organized unit without a leader.

They adopt local ways, living as settled townsfolk in cities and as desert nomads in the wastes. Not all count them among the enlightened peoples, but many follow the enlightened path and are as honorable as any neighbor. Townsfolk ogres are calm and reasonable, valued as workers and warriors, often in slave-soldier societies, sometimes as merchant-rogues and rarely as genie-callers or pragmatists. Nomad ogres roam the harsh lands freely, but old tales of child-snatching ogres breed prejudice, making them standoffish, which feeds the tales.

All dislike ogre magi, yet honor requires giving each a chance to earn respect. Most shun ogrima, the brutish children of mixed ogre and ogre mage blood, and violet-skinned ogres are outcast by association. Some coarse nomads breed with ogre magi or ogrima, so civilized nomads raid ogrima bands to destroy them and stop the rumors. A game master may allow these ogres as characters using regional kits.

Their effect on the surrounding world matches that of elves, dwarves or humans, though hardly any of them practice a craft.